The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.
Amazing Grace by John Newton verse 6
Why do you suppose John Newton chose to talk about end times using the imagery of snow? I have always heard that end times will be the old earth being destroyed by fire. Snow is a very different image. I have lived in snow. When it first snows, the world is magical, much like the movie “White Christmas.” Driving on fresh snow is like driving “where no man has ever gone.” Images of sitting drinking hot chocolate have made Hallmark rich.
But Newton describes the earth dissolving like snow. When snow dissolves, it is no long white and magical. It is brown and slushy. It splashes off the street and discolors the snow by the side of the road. If it melts too fast, flooding or at least puddles appear. After the snow melts, green grass begins to stick its neck up. Spring begins to arrive. Perhaps this is why Newton compares end times to snow that gives way to the beauty of spring and not fire that leaves ashes. Revelation 21:1-4 describes the transition.
“21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
‘See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.’’
Let’s take the word “snow” and build an acrostic of what we think heaven might look like:
S is for _________, N is for ______, O is for ______, and W is for _____.
On the Way to Wonder 